A journal is retracting three papers — including one that is highly cited — after learning the reviewers that recommended publication had conflicts of interest.

This is a case of family values gone awry: The author common to all papers is Cheng-Wu Chen at the National Kaohsiung Marine University in Taiwan, the twin brother of one Peter Chen, who was a the center of a peer review ring that SAGE busted in 2014 (and holder of the number #3 spot on our leaderboard). Cheng-Wu Chen apparently wasn’t an innocent bystander in that episode: Of the 60 retracted papers by SAGE, Cheng-Wu Chen was a co-author on 21.

The article listed above, published online on Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), has been retracted by agreement between the journal Editors-in-Chief, Gavriel Salvendy and Waldemar Karwowski, and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The retraction has been agreed due to evidence indicating that the peer review of this paper was compromised. It is believed that the paper was accepted based on recommendations from reviewers with conflicts of interest. In addition, ISI provided the publisher with evidence of inappropriate manipulation of citations.

We also asked SAGE about Chen’s involvement in the peer review ring. A spokesperson sent us this statement:

SAGE Publishing’s investigation into peer review misconduct at Journal of Vibration and Control was completed in July 2014. The statement concerning the retractions can be viewed at: https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/press/sage-statement-on-journal-of-vibration-and-control

A full list of the Journal of Vibration and Control multiple retractions can be viewed here. We can confirm Cheng-Wu Chen from National Kaohsiung Marine University was listed as a named author on 21 of the 60 retracted papers. As stated in the original statement, the retractions were based on evidence that at least one author or reviewer was implicated in the peer review ring.

There is one more retracted paper entitled as “‘Critical Human Factor Evaluation of Knowledge Sharing Intention in Taiwanese Enterprises” by Cheng-Wu Chen in Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service Industries, which was not list in the three.
Here is the link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hfm.20656/abstract